Sunni vs Shia

An Overview Of The Differences Between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

85% of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world are Sunni. That’s 1.36 billion Sunnis and 0.24 Billion Shiites.This is a brief overview only - there are a number of doctrinal differences between Shia and Sunni not outlined below.

Sunni

Feel that Abu Bakr, who was a close friend of the prophet ought to have been the next Muslim leader after the death of Mohammed.

40% of Sunnis don’t consider Shias to be real muslims.

Sunnis think the Shia emphasis on the Ayatollahs as heretical (Shias consider the Ayatollahs to be the reflection of God on earth).

Al Qaeda, Hamas and ISIS are composed of Sunni Muslims.

After the overthrow of Iraqis Saddam Hussein (who was a Sunni), a Shiite government took over Iraq and now marginalise the Sunni population. It was the disenfranchised Sunnis which went on to form ISIS.

Osama Bin Laden was a Sunni.

Believe that Mohammed did not choose a successor and that the first Caliph had to be elected by leaders in the muslim community.

Sunni Dominated Countries

Most other countries in the middle-east, with pockets of Shiites.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is predominantly Sunni (Wahhabi) and only 10 - 15% of the population is Shiite. Some Saudi Sunnis call Shia Islam a ‘Jewish Conspiracy’.

On Jan 2nd 2016 Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who they accused of supporting terrorism. The Iranian government considers him a martyr. As a result of this execution, Shia muslims attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran in protest. Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Iran.

Many Sunni governments have also severed or limited their diplomatic relations with Iran in solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

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Shia

Claim that Mohammed anointed his son-in-law Ali (father of Aisha) as his rightful successor and that he should have become the first Caliph after Mohammed died.

Hezbollah is composed of Shiite Muslims. Hezbollah is based in Lebanon (hence ISIL = Islamic State in Lebanon). They attack Israel.

Shiite Dominated Countries

Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, BahrainSyria - Alawite muslims, which are an off-shoot of the Shiites. In Syriah a Sunni majority population is ruled by a Shia Alawite minority.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is a Shiite Alawite.

The Iranian mullahs are Shiites​

Both Iran and Syria have Shiite minority governments ruling over Sunni majority populations.

A Brief History of Mohammed's Successor

Abu Bakrbecame the first Caliph and reigned for 27 months before dying of an illness in 634 AD.

His successor was Umar, who reigned for 10 years (634-644)

Umar expanded the Caliphate and defeated the Byzantine and Persian empires.

Umar was assassinated by Abu Lulu, a male Persian slave.

Some Shiite Iranians still celebrate Abu Lulu at his shrine in Iran.

Umar’s successor, Uthman, ruled for 12 years before being killed by a group of rebels.

Hussein’s assassination is the most important occasion on the Shia calendar.

Many Shia’s commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein by self-flagellation.

The majority of Shias (including most Iranians) call Ali and his 12 descendants ‘Imams’ and believe that the 12 imams are the rightful successors of Mohammed.

The 12th imam of the Shias, Mahdi, disappeared in the 9th century.

Mahdi is the Shia’s messiah and they anticipate his return.

Sunnis believe that the first 3 Caliphs and Ali are the true successors of Mohammed. They also say that Mahdi has not been born yet.​

Both Shias and Sunni believe that when Mahdi arrives he will bring justice and righteousness to the world.

Geopolitics

Around the time of WW1, the Middle East was carved up in a Franco-British pact called the Sykes-Picot agreement. This agreement paid little to no attention to the religious and ethnic observances of the peoples living in the region.

The Shiites were mainly distributed within Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, with the Alawite Shia sects in Syria. This is known as the Shia crescent. Sunnis make up the bulk of populations in all other areas, with groups of Shiites living among them.

In a number of countries both Sunni and Shia are vying for power:-

Syria - a Sunni majority has been ruled by a Shia minority (Alawite) for the last 45 years.

In Iraq - a Sunni minority (Saddam Hussein was Sunni) ruled over the Shiite majority for decades. When Saddam Hussein was overthrown, a Shiite government took over, and started marginalising the Sunni majority. Many of those disenfranchised Sunnis went on to form ISIS.